By Connor Adams Sheets
Two men were murdered in Far Rockaway in as many days last week, and another man was shot in the leg, according to police.
Police said they saw three men on the beach at Beach 12th Street and the boardwalk at 12:34 a.m. March 17 and when they went to investigate, they discovered a 25-year-old man with multiple stab wounds on the beach.
Emergency responders pronounced the man, who was later determined to be Mario Alberto Canton Quijada, dead on arrival, according to police.
The three men were then arrested. Diego Marroquin, 19, and Heriberto Martinez, 23, were charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon, police said. Roger Alvarado, 30, was charged with remaining in a park after closing, according to police.
The second murder occurred last Thursday just a few blocks away, at Beach 6th Street and Seagirt Boulevard.
Police said they responded at 4:44 a.m. to a 911 call of a man shot. After arriving at the scene, police said they discovered that two men had been shot.
After a preliminary investigation, police determined that the two victims, who knew each other, had become involved in a dispute which resulted in Julius Smith, 19, allegedly shooting an unidentified 19-year-old male in the right thigh. A struggle ensued and the weapon discharged, striking Smith in the torso, according to police.
Both men were taken to St. John’s Hospital, where police said Smith was pronounced dead on arrival and the other man was listed in stable condition as of last week. Police did not have an update on the unidentified victim’s status Tuesday.
There were no arrests and police said no update on the investigation was available Tuesday.
A resident of Seagirt Boulevard who could point out the crime scene from his front porch said he was awake when police arrived after the shooting and he spoke with detectives who investigated the crime. He called the Beach 6th Street murder “out of the ordinary,” saying murders usually occur in streets west of Beach 15th Street.
“Crime’s usually down there when it happens, it never happens up here. This is an Orthodox Jewish area, so people aren’t carrying guns here,” he said. “It’s just not part of the culture to carry guns here. This whole block here, every family is Orthodox.”
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
